Floating lantern support



Dec. 22, 1959 R. PECK 2,917,755

FLOATING LANTERN SUPPORT Filed Oct. 1, 1957 INVENTOR. A 41 PH P6K BYUnited States Patent FLOATING LANTERN SUPPORT Ralph Peck, Independence,Kans.

Application October 1, 1957, Serial No. 687,480

3 Claims. (Cl. 9-8.3)

This invention relates to floating supports, and more particularly to afloating support for a lantern.

The main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedinflatable floating support for a lantern, said support being especiallyuseful in night fishing, the support being simple in construction, beingeasy to inflate for use, and providing a secure seat for a lanternsupported thereby.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved inflatablelantern support especially useful in night fishing, the floating supportbeing inexpensive to manufacture, being durable in construction, beingprovided with means for easily receiving the base of a lantern and forclamping the base to the support when the support is inflated, and beingprovided with means for attaching an anchor line thereto, as well as aguide line.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and claims, and from the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure l is a vertical cross sectional view taken through an improvedlantern support constructed in accordance with the present invention,shown in operating position.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the inflated lantern support illustratedin Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a bottom view of the inflated lantern support of Figures 1and 2.

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the inflated lantern support ofFigures 1, 2 and 3.

Referring to the drawings, the floating lantern support of the presentinvention is designated generally at 11 and comprises a hollow annularbody 12 of flexible resilient material, such as rubber or the like, theannular body being suitably shaped at its inner portion to define aninner upwardly projecting hollow member 13 when the body is inflated,said inwardly and upwardly projecting member 13 being provided with anupwardly converging, generally conical inside surface 14. Designated at15 is an inner flexible wall member secured to the inner periphery ofthe body 12 at the base of the upwardly converging inner surface 14, themember 15 defining the bottom wall of an upwardly converging, generallyconical seat defined when the body 12 is inserted and shaped to receivethe base 16 of a conventional lantern 17, shown in dotted view in Figure1.

As is clearly shown in Figure l, the bottom wall 15 of the lantern seatis spaced upwardly from the bottom plane of the generally toroidalhollow body 12, thereby defining a cavity at the bottom of the floatingsupport 11 which serves to stabilize the body when it is floating in thewater and to prevent undue oscillation thereof by water wave action.

The body 12 is provided at its top portion with a conventional air valve18 for inflating the body from a suitable source of compressed air.Provided on the body 12 opposite the air valve 18 is an apertured lug 19to which is connected at fastening ring 20, the ring 20 being adapted tobe connected to a guide line 21. Additional rings 22,

22 are provided on the top surface of the main portion of body 12, asshown in Figure 1, for connection to suitable lamp-securing cables whichmay be fastened between the rings 22 and which may be arranged to engagethe base of the lamp 17 in a manner to reinforce the securement of saidbase to the body 12.

The flexible bottom wall member 15 is integrally formed centrally on itsbottom surface with an apertured lug 23 to which is connected a ringmember 24. An anchor line 25 is adapted to be fastened to the ringmember 24, the anchor line 25 being secured at its other end to asuitable anchor 26 which may be employed in the manner shown in Figure 1to anchor the lantern support 11 in a substantially stationary positionin the Water.

The lantern 17 is of a conventional type having the downwardly flaring,generally conical base 16, as illustrated in dotted view in Figure 1.When the device 11 is in a non-inflated condition, the base 16 may bereadily received in the upwardly converging seat defined by the conicalsurface 14 and the bottom wall member 15. Under .these conditions, theportions 14 and 15 of the floating support device 11 are-readilyyieldable to receive the lantern base. However, when the body 12 issubsequently inflated to a substantial pressure, the conical inner wallsurface 14 of the lantern seat acquires substantially increased rigidityand cooperates with the bottom wall 15 to exert a clamping action on theportion of the lantern base 16 received in the seat.

As will be readily apparent, a suitable guide line 21 may be fastened tothe guide ring 20, and an anchor line 25 may be fastened to the bottomring 24.

When employed in the manner illustrated in Figure l, the lantern 17provides illumination of the water in a manner to attract fish as wellas various types of insects and other creatures which serve as bait forfurther attraction of fish to the location adjacent the lantern. Thelantern also serves to attract insects such as moths, or the like,relieving the fisherman of annoyance from such insects.

When the device 11 is not in use, it may be deflated and may be readilyfolded to a relatively compact condition for easy transportation orstorage.

While a specific embodiment of an improved floating lantern support hasbeen disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood thatvarious modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitationsbe placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a lamp having a downwardly flaring conical base, anda floating support comprising a hollow inflatable annular body offlexible material, means for inflating said body, and an inner flexiblehorizontal wall member secured to the inner periphery of said body, theupper portion of said inner periphery being of upwardly convergent,generally conical shape clampingly receiving said base and securing sameon said horizontal wall member when the body is inflated.

2. In combination, a lamp having a downwardly flaring conical base, afloating support comprising a hollow inflatable annular body of flexiblematerial, means for inflating said body, an inner flexible horizontalWall member secured to the inner periphery of said body, the upperportion of said inner periphery being of upwardly convergent, generallyconical shape clampingly receiving said base and securing same on saidhorizontal wall member when the body is inflated, a ring member securedto the bottom surface of said wall member, and an anchor line secured tosaid ring member.

3. In combination, a lamp having a downwardly flaring conical base, afloating support comprising a hollow insurface of said wall member forconnection to an anchor flatable annular body of flexible material,means for line.

inflating said body, an inner flexible horizontal wall memf d th fi fth' t ber secured to the 1111161 periphery of said body, the upper Reerences Cite m e 1e 0 1S Pate portion of said inner periphery being ofupwardly con- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS vergent, generally conical shapeclampingly receiving said 51,120 Quinby 2. Nov. 21, 1865 base andsecuring same on said wall member when the 456,621 Kopcke July 28, 1891body is inflated, a first ring member secured to an outer 2,324,983Gollings July 20, 1943 peripheral portion of said body for connection toa guide 2,342,363 Oestnaes Feb. 22, 1944 line, and a second ring membersecured to the bottom 10 2,365,587 Pennow Dec. 19, 1944

